A former Snapchat employee’s walk down memory lane has prompted a poignant reminder about the value of workers to employers.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed 1.2 million times, user Nicole James (@nicolejames356) says she worked at Snap, Inc., otherwise known as Snapchat, for four years. In her time there, she says she learned that her employer did not care about her or her coworkers, no matter the amenities provided or internal messaging.
“A lot of people are getting laid off from their tech jobs right now, and I just want to say I think it’s a really good life lesson, sometimes it has to smack you in the face for you to understand that your company does not give one fuck about you and literally never will,” she says in the video. “They will never care about you. It’s not a family, you can do as much free massages and yoga as you want with these people, but they’re not your family. I learned this lesson myself over the course of four years working at this company.”
@nicolejames356 #techcompany #techlayoffs #theaudacityofmen #techjobs ♬ original sound – Nicole James
A reminder of this, she says, was a stock certificate gifted to the first 100 to 200 Snap employees, that is worth less than the paper it is printed on. It was accompanied by a letter acknowledging its lack of value, instead suggesting that the slip of paper would have sentimental value.
“One of the things that the current conversation is reminding me of, is this little souvenir we got from the company,” she says. “You might recognize this as a stock certificate, and up here the number 74 that was issued to the stock, and over here, the number 000, is the amount of stock you actually received, which was, as you can see, that’s a zero. So this stock certificate is worth zero dollars.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to James via a comment on the video as other methods of communication were unavailable, as well as to Snap directly via email regarding the video.
Viewers mocked the letter for its message and intent in accompanying a stock note that holds no value.
“They made sure to put 3 zeros so you know it’s not worth anything,” one commenter wrote. “Because 1 zero could be confusing.”
“I don’t understand why people ever think this is a good idea. this is a huge slap in the face,” another user said. “I’d rather you ignore me.”
“The amount of money and labor it took to make those, you guys could have had an amazing pizza party,” a third added. “That would have been worth more.”
Update 12:29pm CT January 31: In an email to the Daily Dot, a Snap spokesperson noted that all team members receive equity in the company as part of their compensation.
